More
than 100,000 flee floods in Japan after 'once-in-50-years' rain
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[September 10, 2015]
By Issei Kato
JOSO, Japan (Reuters) - Unprecedented rain
in Japan unleashed heavy floods on Friday that tore houses from their
foundations, uprooted trees and forced more than 100,000 people from
their homes.
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Helicopters hovering over swirling, muddy waters rescued many
people from the roofs of their homes. Seven people were missing and
at least 17 were injured, one seriously.
Some areas received double the usual September rainfall in 48 hours
after tropical storm Etau swept across Japan's main island of
Honshu. In some places, rain-swollen rivers burst their banks.
A 63-year old woman was missing in a landslide that hit her home
while a man in his 70s in the town of Joso, 56 km (35 miles) north
of Tokyo, was feared trapped when water engulfed his home, NHK
national television said.
"We heard a huge sound like a thunderclap, and then the hillside
came down," a man told NHK, referring to the landslide that swept
away his neighbor.
Television broadcast footage of helicopters winching people to
safety, including an elderly couple clutching a pair of struggling
dogs as the flood tore away pieces of their home.
A further 800,000 people were at one point advised to evacuate after
officials issued predawn warnings of "once in a half century rains"
to 5 million people in areas east and north of Tokyo.
Japan has put heavy emphasis on disaster prevention since a 2011
earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people and authorities
are keen to avoid the kind of criticism they faced then, for what
was seen as a sluggish response.
The government set up an emergency center, and Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe told a meeting of ministers that the "unprecedented" rain had
created an emergency.
"The government will work as one to prioritize the safety of the
people and do our best to prevent any further disaster," Abe told
reporters.
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Television footage showed people in Joso waving towels while waiting
for help on the upper floors of homes engulfed in floods after the
overflowing Kinugawa river swept through.
"I thought I was safe because I live on a hill, but pretty soon the
water came up and everything was washed away," a barefoot man told
Fuji TV after his helicopter rescue.
Up to 12 military helicopters took part in the rescue along with an
initial 55 members of Japan's military, the Self Defence Force.
Officials said their number would rise.
Rescue workers rushed to find people before nightfall.
Part of a hotel in the town of Nikko, famed for its shrines and
temples, had collapsed, Kyodo news agency said, but there were no
reports of injuries.
Rainfall reached 500 mm (20 inches) around Joso, NHK said, with
weather officials expecting at least 200 mm (8 inches) more in parts
of eastern Japan, including Fukushima, the site of the nuclear
reactor crippled in 2011, before the downpour stops on Friday.
(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Writing by Elaine Lies;
Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez)
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